1. Field
Embodiments generally relate to determining the number of users of computer software.
2. Background Art
To allocate resources properly in the client server model of computing, it is useful to determine how many unique clients are using a particular piece of computer software. Determining how many unique clients are using a particular piece of computer software may be performed in many ways. For example, the number of unique clients may be estimated by the number of downloads of the software. However, this number may not be accurate for various reasons. For example, the number of downloads may be too large if users download the software many times onto the same machine or too small if particular users obtain the software by other means. Also, tracking downloads does not allow the ability to determine if a client has ceased to use the particular software of interest. Thus, determining trends in the number of clients using the particular software cannot be accomplished.
The number of unique clients may also be estimated by assigning each client a unique identifier. Each client may communicate its unique identifier to a server which can aggregate the number of clients over a particular time period. For example, the server can count unique identifiers over a 30 day period to determine how many clients used the software in that period. However, some computer users are wary of their privacy and are reluctant to be identified in any way to third parties. Thus, using unique identifiers to count unique users may deter such users from using certain software.